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A history of the birds of Europe, including all the species inhabiting the western palaearctic region.

H(enry) E(eles) Dresser. Self-published, London. Royal Quarto.

8 volumes in 84 parts, 1871--1882

A history of the birds of Europe was an exhaustive review of the avifauna of the Palearctic region, including the whole of Europe to the Urals and Caucasus ranges in Russia, as well as Asia Minor and the Mediterranean regions of northern Africa. Keulemans contributed more colored plates (about 673 of the 723 issued for all volumes, including the Supplement) for this series than for any of his other monographs or journal publications.

Henry Eeles Dresser (1838--1915) began publishing the parts in 1871, with the eighth volume being issued in 1882 (though some sources cite the previous year as the year of publication for this). The extent to which Dresser provided his descriptions is remarkable; some six pages were devoted to an entry on the accidental American form of hawk owl.

Richard Bowdler Sharpe assisted the author until publication of part 13, though he was still credited for his contributions up to the publication of part 17. Part of the synopses was evaluated by Lord Walden (Marquis of Tweeddale). No plates were included in the first volume (an index), but overall, Birds of Europe included 634 of them, and Keulemans was the artist for about 589. Joseph Wolf, W(illiam) M(atthew) Hart, Edward Neale, and J(oseph) Smit also contributed illustrations.

In some printings the plates were not numerated. In this exhibit, where a plate number can be identified but is not indicated, it is provided in parentheses.

Supplement to a history of the birds of Europe, including all the species inhabiting the Western Palaearctic Region, forming volume IX.

Self-published, London. Royal Quarto.

The Supplement (1895--1896) was written more than a decade after Dresser had completed Birds of Europe, and it provided entries for many of the species which had either been recorded as accidental to the Palaearctic region or which had been described since the publication of the eighth volume. The eight parts issued included 89 plates which, in some printings, were not numbered. Keulemans was the artist for all of these.

This completed exhibit of Birds of Europeincludes 677 plates by Keulemans, the entirety of which includes all the plates from the Supplement, as well as all representative figures of birds belonging to the Passeriformes, in addition to which another 7 orders (Apodiformes, Caprimulgiformes, Ciconiiformes, Columbiformes, Cuculiformes, Gaviiformes, Piciformes).